photo: Robert Fuhro

Wednesday we enter the Celtic Lunar month of Duir, the Oak! Duir means ‘door,’ the entry into another season when the Sun stands still, and turns South at the Summer Solstice. In the Druid ceremony at the Solstice, the Holly King triumphs over the Oak King, until the winter Solstice, when Holly is wounded by Oak, and the light of the Sun returns to the North. And so here we stand at the Door of Oak, ready for new beginning as at each new Moon, but also a turn from the expansion of light to the expansion of darkness.

photo: Sarah Fuhro

The Oak is the king of the forest, and is sacred in many traditions because he draws lightning, the attention of the sky gods. Even when struck by lightning, the Oak endures, marked by fire but still vital. He is tall and solid; his branches provide protection from Sun and rain. Oak is sacred to Druids who call themselves ‘piglets.’ Like piglets, who eat acorns from the Oak, Druids gather wisdom from this mighty tree.

pottery: Sarah Fuhro

There’s an eclipse of the Sun at this new Moon, and if feels as if this is a reflection of the Solstice, when the Sun stops for a moment and then turns Southward. Immediately after the perfect moment of newness, the Moon becomes ‘void of course,’ that is, has no further connection to other planets until early Thursday morning. As I write this, the Moon is in her dark phase. Invisible in the sky, we can only intuit her meeting with the eclipsed Sun, which takes place Wednesday at 3:43 pm EDT.

The Moon seems to be in some danger from all of this. Moon is our emotional body. She is our sense of security, our mother, our home, the sea from where we emerged. How does all of this ‘feel’ when she disappears into the Sun’s embrace? While all of the cosmos is in constant flux, it is the Moon, deeply embedded in our hearts and psyches who communicates, with out words, the truth of change, the necessity to embrace transformation.

sculpture: Joseph Wheelwright

The new Moon takes place with the Sun at 22° of Gemini. Gemini is a chatty, airy, flexible sign for the Moon. But because of other tensions in the chart, this new Moon seems more subdued, or withdrawn. However we grew up, we had to gauge our mother’s moods and intentions. Like the Moon, she was not always focused on us. She had her own internal and external life, and we had to share her attention. There is a direct but uncomfortable relationship between the Moon in Gemini and Pluto, the Lord of the Underworld. Death, as an emotional truth may make his way into our consciousness. The old truth: ‘the end must come before the beginning is felt here.’ Death as a constant even in the green world of Summer leers at us.

photo: Bruce Lhuillier

Ah, but change from this place of dark eclipse happens quickly! It all depends upon how you look at things! The Sun comes out of his shadow. The joyful green world of June and Gemini is apparent everywhere. Gemini who loves to see things, now this way and now that way, is the perfect balance to eclipse and Pluto energy.

photo: Bruce Lhuillier

The Moon moves into the sign of Cancer on Thursday at 3:20 am. Here she is once more the all-embracing Mother! The same day marks the entrance of Venus into Leo, where she celebrates love and beauty with Solar abandon!

photo: Sarah Fuhro

The Sabian Symbol for this moment of new Moon is one of potential for new life and growth: ‘Three fledglings in a nest high in a tree’ This is the triangle of manifestation, the trine in astrology. This is new Moon is about the process of ‘creative integration.’ The three elements of Visionary, Designer and Craftsman work in harmony to build an eternal chapel in the Three of Pentacles Tarot card.